#it's mostly vibes honestly haha

[lazuliquetzal]

ooh if you're still taking asks for the director's cut ask game, maybe something for Sav'orr, Sav'orq? I'd seen the comic on tumblr before but completely did not realize that was your au until i saw it again on ao3, that's such a cool concept!!! extremely intrigued by the dynamic between ganondorf, zelda, and link as siblings, and with that age order, too. hope you have a wonderful day!!

my buddy my pal my friend i will always talk about anything i've created ever 💖

so the official name for this AU is the "Tax Evasion AU" (inside joke, there is not actually much tax evasion going on here) and i wrote a short introduction here but basically: yeah, dramatic sibling drama.

They're intentionally Gerudo (with Zelda being half-Hylian princess) because I specifically wanted the plot to be about overthrowing the Hylian Empire (sometimes you want the uncomplicated benevolent monarchy fantasy, and sometimes you want to light it on fire. it can take turns.) So in this AU the Gerudo (and a lot of the other Zelda races) have been colonized by the Hylians.

ANYWAY, the age order is in fact very intentional! I lean into sibling stereotypes a bit, but also I think Ganondorf>Zelda>Link is the typical age order vibe I get in most LOZ games. But in Tax Evasion AU specifically, it sets up the tension in their dynamic. I've talked about this before with a friend so I'm just gonna put the discord screenshots since I don't feel like typing this out 😭

[described in alt text]

The point of the sibling thing is to give them a choiceless connection from the start, independent of the Reincarnated Destiny thing. Because it raises the question of: is fate real, and which fate is real.

Is it Ganondorf's fate to care for his siblings, or is it his fate to turn on them? Does he believe in the circumstances of his birth, or does he believe in the stars?

Some additional ganondorf things:

Regarding the Comic:

I am simultaneously very lazy and very tryhard, so I was like: "Hm I don't feel like writing a 50K story about this, and I don't think I can capture the stuff I want to in a oneshot. I guess I'll make a short comic instead" which is also the same exact thought process behind the Saran's Medallion comic. Wait shit I should have posted SM on AO3 also

[kelbunny]

Playing Live a Live is a weird experience bc my brain feels like there needs to be more.

Not because there actually needs to be more mind you, but because I'm so used to playing longer games that my brain feels every game needs to be like, at least 50+ hours to complete the main story, + who knows how much longer for side stuff

[sysig]

Hey don’t I know you

Bonus:

[vonbabbitt]

ok since people asked about the evil au. also please keep in mind this is a very 2000s/2010score au. its edgy and campy for fun

Isono Miki: Ultimate GFE Streamer

leans HARDCORE into GFE. constantly trying to manipulate money out of lonely people to fund a super bougie and comfortable lifestyle. snakesnake basically

Harada Keizou: Ultimate Butcher

butcher for the sole reason that he truly does enjoy chopping up and segmenting animals

just way over the top campy "haha i love killing and blood soooo much!!" 2010s deviantart creepypasta style

Chiba Airi: Ultimate Scammer

does exclusively ads for scummy faulty products and subscriptions and supplements so she can make mad bank

when we were discussing this in call we just kept saying "buy supplements" over and over and over again so thats the vibe

Kamimura Kazutoshi: Ultimate Cleanup Crew

its the same job but now he does it on the opposite side of the law

works directly in tandem with hasegawa, cleans up evidence and gets rid of bodies etc

personality wise....hes mostly the same LMAO

Hayashi Mai: Ultimate Hitman

doesnt ask questions. gets the job done

just in it for the thrill of the hunt. personality mostly the same but gets a bit feral edgy style when shes getting closer and closer to catching her target

Wada Masanari: Ultimate Con Artist

works with chiba and handles her phone lines

impersonates people's voices to give them the run-around when theyre trying to do something like cancel a subscription ("i wanna speak to the manager" "hi yes this is the manager now.")

buy supplements

Sasaki Hitomi: Ultimate Dictator

hey man gotta do something with those leadership skills

absolutely ruthless war criminal. this one is probably the most evil i think

Ojima Takeshi: Ultimate AI Artist

"nakamigawa i actually really like this design but i honestly think you could buff it up a lot with midjourney"

calls himself a "prompt engineer"

"wow cool drawing! i ran it through chatgpt to improve it a bit"

just a hardcore AI bro. thinks AI art is the absolute effing best and definitely real art

Okazaki Hanano: Ultimate Superhero

okay so shes not evil anymore

we thought it would be funny if in this evil AU shes just good now

still the rival of tsuno manami though

Hama Ran: Ultimate Occult Evangelist

just a straight up cultist

considers himself an "angel hunter", hunts down alleged "angels" and kills them in the name of his cult

tries to rope other people into his cult evangelism style

Tsuno Manami: Ultimate Supervillain

yeah pretty much what it says on the tin here

shes evil now

except shes actually good at it unlike okazaki

wants to take over the world or perhaps just blow it up maybe

Hiroaki Nakamigawa: Ultimate Model Coach

coaches young fashion models extremely harshly and pushes his fashion VERY hard

basically just yells at and insults these teenagers until they get eating disorders or quit forever

BRUTALLY mean

Tamba Ruiko: Ultimate Detective

except she absolutely fucking sucks at it

her detective-ing is an active detriment to everyone and actively sabotages crime scenes

she has no idea she sucks

Hasegawa Ken: Ultimate Information Broker

one smug motherfucker

works directly with kamimura in their little two man mafia

collects peoples information and uses it to blackmail them out of a massive amount of money and resources

Watari Nishino: Ultimate Demolitionist

we thought arson was way too basic

so now she blows stuff up with huge bombs

just for fun i guess. and can fun ever really be evil? certainly no way

Yanagi Shigeki: Ultimate Pick-up Artist

teaches those sigma male courses on how to pick up women

massive chauvinist

treats women like cattle and acts with the full intention of picking up as many of them as possible

[foldingfittedsheets]

SO MANY of your posts read like some shit post from 2013 that I expect you have at least 80k notes. Serious main character energy with these stories

WHY am I a side character dammit?? >.>

Haha the only post I have over 80k is my cat key comic.

But honestly, I don’t know about main character energy. I feel like I have Vibes that make people wanna interact with me when I’m out and about but mostly I think it’s looking at mundane events through a different lens. It’s not that funny that I killed a spider but it felt like an epic battle to me so that’s how I wrote it.

You’re probably more interesting than you think, you just gotta make your life a story.

[idolomantises]

Have you watched Murder Drones, and if so what’s your opinion on it?

Also your art is great, keep it up.

Thank you!

And uh. Man. I may make an enemy out of another indie fandom because I don’t really like this show.

I actually loved the pilot and thought episodes 1-3 were incredible, if a bit too fast paced. But episode 4 was kind of a breaking point for me and I dropped off after that.

I don’t think it’s very funny. I think it relies too much on Bathos and it makes it hard to take its cast seriously. As a black comedy it mostly worked for episodes 1-3, but 4? No.

It does this thing I really despise in media where it has themes of genocide but like… heavily deprioritizes it and often portrays it like a comedy. It’s supposed to be funny when innocent characters are murdered because they’re just goofy side characters but when it’s a major character suddenly we have to care, and I don’t like that at all. The main character has a meltdown over finding out that murder drones are sent to kill her people at the end of the pilot, and then in episode 4 she’s murdering her classmates and crying because a boy she likes might think she’s weird. I actually find it pretty frustrating that the robots are portrayed as incredibly cowardly because they’re slowly dying off and scared to die and then they’re hanging out with V who casually murders random children and nobody reacts to it.

I actually do like the idea of a character who’s not reformed but is kind of forced to stick around but when I see her murder characters, traumatize children and then go “haha I just have mental problems” and everyone just… moves on, I just cannot bring myself to care. It causes such a massive dissonance and not in a fun way.

I think it’s very frustrating and unengaging when a story about people doing the right thing and trying to help others has no interest in helping those they’re trying to save.

I think the female cast is solid but I did kind of raise my eye a bit when the only major female character that was killed off was a victim of genocide while the other genocidal characters, two of which gleefully murdered her fucking parents, are just allowed to hang out with the rest of the cast. Uzi especially lost a lot of sympathy for me when she was more emotional about freaking out N than murdering her classmates. Like yeah, they weren’t the nicest to her but it’s weird to establish a character wants to end genocide and then… barely reacts when they also indulge in that genocide.

I don’t really like the characters at all. I don’t like Uzi, I found N irritating and boring (and gives me anime harem protagonist vibes), I thought V was a tryhard and I couldn’t really care for the rest of the cast. I liked Doll but lol, you know how that turned out.

It also has this problem of having an overloaded cast with very little breathing room. I really wish the show just had one, low stakes episode, so we can actually get to know these characters and collect their thoughts. It’s actually one of my concerns for TADC, because as much as I do like that show, I think “no filler” with constant story is going to make or break the show for me. It’s too fast paced and no, I don’t think it’s good that you have to rewatch an episode 4 times to understand what’s going on. I don’t watch indie shows to play where’s Waldo, information should be explained to the audience in a way that feels digestible and natural.

The animation is incredible and the stuff that came out from the finale was insane, but at times it just felt like jangling keys in my face. Like don’t pay attention to rushed story, underdeveloped characters and bizarre tonal whiplash, look at the cool fights. I dont think it does horror well either. In fact I kind of cringe a bit when characters a big wide grins and giggle evilly and it’s mean to be intimidating and it just. Doesn’t work. Feels a bit juvenile honestly.

And. This is a very personal thing. I don’t like the robot designs.

[ink-stain12]

What’s your head cannon for the elite trine? Also who’s your favourite? Mine’s starscream. Gotta love a dramatic bot

OMG TYSM FOR ASKING! this is my first ask so bear with me 😅(Overall my head cannons r mostly just wholesome stuff)

(Kinda like just domestic stuff away from the war stuff)

I’ve got tones of head cannons for each of the seekers individually but in general I like to think of the trine as siblings.

I like to think that they bicker a lot (especially sky and star lol) but aren’t shy about showing affection towards each other in private. They trust and are very deeply loyal to each other due to how inherently strong a trine bond is.

I also love the idea of their wings moving involuntarily/subconsciously to show emotions.

As to who is my favourite, I honestly don’t know haha😅 I really love all their little quirks like thundercrackers enthusiasm for making movies (in IDW) , skywarps silly goofiness (and his beef w mini cons for some reason💀) and ofc starscreams whole chaotic gremlin diva vibe lmao

I like drawing skywarp the most tho coz of all the sharp and point edges/shapes (which makes the little head vents look like cat ears :>)

Hope this somewhat answered ur question😅 again tysm for asking! I rly appreciate it<3

[hhhhunty]

loving your redwall piece. do you have plans for more? maybe wano characters?

Haha lots of ideas. One thing I knew I wanted to do was Yamato and Kaido as wolverines. It just suits them so well, wolverines being these huge somewhat barbaric characters in the books. I made an attempt to draw them and i think it came out good :)

They got big ole snakeskins to simulate their features, since I refuse to just slap hair on anyone. Yamato's just torn his the hell up I guess. The fangs of the snakes have been extended with these horn attachments to make them look more fearsome.

I've also drawn Tama and Momo, a mouse and a badger respectively! (+obligatory Luffy)

More yapping and size difference image under the cut

Tama should be smaller. Momo is a child here, but as an adult would be probably a bit shorter than Yamato, maybe? I totally guessed with the sizes i just know a wolverine is MUCH bigger than a weasel and a young badger should be bigger than one as well. Redwall is unclear about the actual size differences, other than badgers being very large and shrews being among the smallest, so it's kind of up to me to make it up. Given the crazy size differences already in One Piece it just seemed like a good idea to have them have somewhat more realistic size differences.

Wano as a whole I'm thinking has noble badger families. Of course the Kozukis are, and the Shimotsukis as well (it is where Zoro came from of course)! I'm thinking in this sort of au, there is no time travel BUT I can allow the characters to grow in size rather quickly using Animal Logic! So, I think a season or two passes and Momo gets nearly fully grown by the time he helps with the raid!

As for the scabbards I'm not totally sure. I'm honestly thinking hare at least for kin'emon, I think his fancy speech could suit one. They do also serve badgers in Salamandastron in the books, so I thought hare retainers for Oden could work. I'm not totally sure, though. It's been pointed out to me that Kiku's associated animal is a ferret. I really love that, but I'm also uncertain given the generally evil vibe ferrets have in redwall... it's fine for pirates like law and the dq bros but it's just not very Kiku. The scabbards being a mix of creatures makes the most sense I think but I just don't know which ones. I was thinking they should mostly be "woodlander"/"good" creatures rather than "vermin" like I've been fine with making many pirates.

Aaaaanywho Yasuie being a shimotsuki would've been a badger, and I'm not sure what to make Toko, as they're adoptive. Part of me thinks hedgehog but I've already made a badger-hedgehog adoptive father-daughter situation for this au (bonus points if you can guess who) so I'm not sure. Maybe squirrel would suit her. Anyways that's enough musing from me. Thanks for the ask!

[l-in-the-light]

Luffy's and Law's similarities

Because people always talk only about their differences, time to do the uno reverse! You might be surprised how many there are, actually.

Snapping at exactly same thing.

Snapping at same stuff again, because sometimes they share exactly the same brain cell. Even their face expressions are exactly the same in both examples lol.

Whenever Law actually loosens his guard, he reacts in exact same ways as Luffy does.

They both have a very similar experience with their mentors sacrificing themselves for them and same selfblaming reaction. This serves mostly as a prologue because we will compare how child Law and child Luffy behaved.

Both were reckless brats with very wrong self-harming ideas to get what they want.

They hate "dirty tricks" and being lied to. And easily lash out.

Their initial reaction to making fun of someone tripping/being pushed on the floor or making fun of anyone. Also standing there in exact same pose with their fists clenched.

"I will go find a real role model", same vibes here honestly.

"You will pay for this" mentality. They were also both literally thrown which endagered their lives and they both can't believe it's actually happening, that anyone would do something like that. Also bonus points for swearing child Luffy haha.

Both consider some people to be just total scums that deserve punching. Bad guys should be taught a lesson. Law at least managed to land a stab, so 1:0 for him.

This is intriguing. This is the last time Law asks someone for help. And last time Luffy asks someone to help him. Both seem to be convinced "asking for help" caused their loved ones to get hurt, so you will never hear them do it again. The only difference here is Law is asking to help Corazon, while Luffy is the one who needs the help.

Later on Luffy is taught to ask for help by Vivi in Drum Kingdom, but he isn't asking for himself, but to help Nami. Meanwhile Law never again uses the polite words. The most he is capable of is to ask Cavendish "tanomu" which is more like "I'm counting on you".

Both sit in same pose whenever Law isn't trying to impersonate Corazon's style (yes, Law mimicks Cora a lot, also in the way he walks). At least once he slipped and sat in the way he found naturally comfortable instead and it was exactly same way as Luffy's preferred sitting position. What a curious coincidence.

Another funny thing about them is that they both like to wear exactly same type of shoes they used to wear as a child, Luffy the sandals, and Law his dark boots. It's not really that common thing in the manga, for example, Nami and Zoro didn't stick to same type of shoes they used to wear when they were kids.

They also sleep in exactly same position, the infamous T-pose. For comparison, the rest of the Strawhats all have their own different sleeping positions (first from the right is Usopp ofc lol).

They also match each other's pace pretty well. "Let's go, Torao!" and "Ike!" as Law's answer which literally means just "Go!", because Traffy is ready too, no need to stall back.

And finally my favourite:

If Law wasn't under Corazon's "calm" spell, would his laugh sound familiar? Perhaps would it be "shishishi" we know so well? Of course that's the last time Law laughs like that, so we can't compare him laughing when he's an adult. Families in One Piece often share similar laughs, it seems. Unless you're a devil fruit user, that also changes your laughter apparently hm.

There's probably even more similarities between their behaviour, thinking patterns and expressions than I managed to find. I find it suspicious considering those two did not grow up together, so why are they so similar when they're both children?

I dunno if whole D. clan is an actual family, but I think Law and Luffy definitely had a shared ancestor and probably not that far in the past. Very curious since they're from East Blue and North Blue, the two seas mentioned to be the hardest to travel from one another.

Many people speculated Dragon isn't related to Garp or Luffy because they don't really look that much alike, but if you compare Monkey, Trafalgar and Gol family members together you can start to see some pattern emerging: they all have naturally black ruffled hair Potter-family style (you're welcome for that comparison you never wanted to notice and now you can't unsee haha). I wonder if Joyboy will also be revealed of sporting similar style of hair.

[n1ceguyen]

2AM Mistakes (Huh Yunjin x M!Reader)

Chapter 1:

Toronto always felt heavier at night. Not loud, not suffocating—just thick with a kind of stillness that settled into the bones. Streetlights casting long shadows over cracked sidewalks. The hum of streetcars in the distance, fading into nothing.

Y/N sat at their desk, leaning back in a chair that creaked just enough to remind them it wasn’t built for this much sitting. Headphones half-on, the soft loop of a half-finished track playing on repeat. The room was small—desk squeezed between a sagging bookshelf and a window streaked with condensation—but it was enough.

It was always enough at this hour.

The track was rough. Guitar chords layered under a slow, muffled beat. It had this worn-out quality to it, like it wasn’t trying too hard to be anything except there. The kind of sound that made you feel like you were walking home from somewhere you didn’t want to leave yet.

Y/N stared at the screen. The waveform glowed faintly against the dark background. It wasn’t done. Probably wouldn’t ever be done. But that didn’t stop them.

The title hovered in the corner of the screen.

“2AM Mistakes”

It wasn’t deep. Just felt right. The song had that feeling—the kind that only came out when it was too late to undo anything you’d already said or thought. When the world was too quiet, and the thoughts got too loud.

With a sigh, Y/N exported the track and uploaded it to SoundCloud. No tags. No cover art. No promo. Just tossed into the void like the last few had been.

They leaned back, let the song play one more time through their cheap headphones. The coffee in the mug nearby had gone cold, but they took a sip anyway. It tasted burnt.

The clock read 2:14 AM.

Of course it did.

Y/N closed their laptop and stared out the window. The city outside didn’t look like much. A flickering streetlight, a faint red glow from the convenience store across the street. But there was something comforting about the way it never fully stopped.

Their phone buzzed on the desk.

Probably spam.

They almost ignored it.

But curiosity won.

[SoundCloud Notification: New like on “2AM Mistakes” by hj_426]

Y/N frowned a little. That was fast.

They clicked into the notification. The profile was bare. hj_426. No real bio. One follower. A blurry profile picture—just a soft outline of someone’s face, half in shadow. Real, maybe. Or just trying not to be seen.

But there was a comment.

“this feels like walking home when you’re too tired to care about the cold. i liked it.”

Y/N stared at the words for a long moment. It wasn’t just a “nice track” or a flame emoji. It felt… real.

Their fingers hovered over the reply box.

Why not.

Y/N: thanks for listening. walking home cold is exactly the vibe haha.

They sent it before they could talk themselves out of it. Tossed their phone onto the bed, stood up, stretched. The chair groaned like it was grateful to be left alone.

But before Y/N could even step away, the phone buzzed again.

hj_426: u nailed it. found it by accident while walking tonight. sometimes the algorithm knows what i need better than i do lol. u make music often?

Y/N smiled a little.

There was something about the way she typed—casual, like it wasn’t a big deal.

Y/N: started a couple months ago. been messing around with it at night mostly. still figuring out where i’m going with it tbh.

hj_426: nah it’s got a vibe. feels honest. not too polished, just… real. i sing a little too. nothing crazy.

Honest.

The word sat in Y/N’s chest a little heavier than they expected. Most people talked about production or mixing. No one called it honest.

Y/N: appreciate that. honestly just trying to make something that feels like how the city sounds at night, u know?

hj_426: i get that. toronto at night hits different. quiet but too alive to really sleep.

Y/N: exactly.

There was a pause.

The kind of pause that didn’t feel like the end, just space to breathe.

hj_426: u got insta? i wanna send u a rough melody idea. kinda dumb but i can’t get it outta my head.

Y/N hesitated.

It wasn’t weird, exactly. Just… surprising. Most online convos never made it past a couple replies. But this felt easy. Natural.

They dropped their handle.

Seconds later, the DM popped in.

A voice memo.

Y/N hit play.

It was rough—just a soft, humming melody, like she’d recorded it under her breath walking down a quiet street. A little rushed. A little off-key in places. But there was something in the way it moved—rising, falling, catching on a note like it almost didn’t want to let go.

It clung to the back of Y/N’s mind even after the recording ended.

They played it again.

And again.

Y/N: yo this is rlly good. not dumb at all. mind if i mess around with it? build something under it?

The reply came quick.

hj_426: pls do. u bring the calm, i’ll bring the sad. perfect combo.

Y/N: dangerous combo. might have to start a band.

hj_426: lol only if we call it 2AM Mistakes.

Y/N laughed out loud.

It felt too perfect.

Y/N: deal. one album. no interviews. break up dramatically.

hj_426: no explanations. no apologies. indie legends.

The clock slipped past 3AM without either of them noticing.

The city outside stayed quiet, but the space between them felt like it was filling with something.

Still no names.

Still no faces.

Just music.

And the feeling that maybe, for once, Y/N wasn’t just making songs for no one.

End of Chapter 1.

[skimmeh]

I'm curious about your Mumbo, can you tell me more about him? I saw that in some of your doodles he has a mechanical arm and in others he doesn't, is that canon for him or are you still working out his final design?

I'm still working on his design! But I can tell you all the inspirations I have!!! For his design!! 

He's supposed to be the guys really into robotics (cos you know cc mumbo all about flying machines and they are the closest you can get to robots in villain Minecraft... Rip copper golem) 

So I knew I wanted to make him have like alot of robotics and stuff, that arm was like an idea for extra arms he might use to help with his work.

But then I decided I wanted to kind of stick to a theme. And I came to the idea of the robots being they bug inspired (specifically at first spiny flower mantis) , beacuse that sort of link to my idea of his characters being very intrigued by plants (with s8 potato stuff and then s9 buttercups). So the idea that he uses plants and flowers as like the intelligent force inside his robots ..think mech suits for plants!! 

Then Grumbot! Which important character connected to mumbo ..of which I'm still designing. I thought it would be sweet if his heart was a potato plant! Which is double cute cos potato flowers are kind of star shaped!!! 

And then I started thinking about, you know how there was the phrase when clear cases were a thing on every electronic to look cool. That kind of reminds me of certain bugs!! Or frogs, when you can see their organs! Of which I thought also fitted, if Mumbo's robotics in this au would powered by plants, the idea that most of there outer shells are clear ..makes sense because plants need light, green house type vibe. 

I know this is mostly me just rambling about Mumbo's robotics rather than mumbo himself.... But honestly that's most of the inspiration behind mumbos design!

I'm still working on them ..SOOO this me more talking about the ideas I have then showing anything I've drawn yet haha

[ordinary-barbie]

is it new year's yet?

summary: you absolutely adore christmas. unfortunately for you, your boyfriend Billy despises the holiday. can you get him to look on the merry and bright side of life? modern-day au.

tags: billy x fem! reader, swearing, some suggestive content but no actual smut, reader and Billy are in their mid-20s and live in California, mention of Neil being an abusive pos, some angst but mostly fluff

title from the song by Sabrina Carpenter!

note: enjoy this belated christmas present, haha! It's definitely cheesy but maybe a little cheese is good sometimes, ya know? also this is my first time dipping my toes into ST fanfic so be gentle!

Billy hated Christmas.

Well, it wasn't always this way. Back when he was a kid - when his mom was still around - Christmas was a magical time. His mom adored Christmas and always found a way to make it special. But after she left, the magic of the holiday faded. Neil certainly wasn't going to make it merry and bright. When he married Susan, Neil managed to put up some sort of effort for her and Max, but didn't do shit for Billy (unless you count the black eye Neil gave him a few years ago after he forgot to buy Max a gift. Happy fuckin' holidays).

These days, everything about the holiday seemed to irritate him. The garish decorations hanging everywhere. The songs that were so goddamn overplayed. The whole "holly jolly, merry and bright" vibes made him sick.

And yet, somehow, he ended up with someone who wholeheartedly embraced everything about this corny-ass holiday: you.

Billy honestly didn't know how he managed to land you. Where he was all sharp edges and harsh words, you seemed to radiate light and kindness - though that didn't mean you took any shit, from Billy or anyone. He'd had his walls built up for so long, and he'd finally found someone who was willing to chip away at his exterior and love him truly and deeply.

When Billy first admitted to you that he wasn't a fan of Christmas, he wasn't sure how you were going to react. He knew how much you adored the holiday and was terrified that this was going to be the breaking point, the thing that finally convinced you that you deserved better and you should leave him.

Instead, you giggled. Fuck, Billy wanted to bottle up that sound so he could listen to it whenever he wanted. "Wow, I had no idea I was dating the Grinch," you teasingly replied.

Billy snorted, though he was secretly filled with relief. "The Grinch had a point, all right? This shit gets annoying."

You softly smiled at him. “The Grinch also discovered the magic of Christmas and his heart grew three sizes,” you countered in response.

Billy rolled his eyes but couldn’t stay mad at you long. "Yeah yeah. But that's not gonna be me."

🎄🎄🎄

Billy sighed, tugging at the ugly Christmas sweater you'd bought for him - a green sweater emblazoned with a drawing of the Grinch and the words "Bah Humbug!" across the chest. ("It suits you!" you'd teasingly told him.) "I cannot believe you talked me into this," he grumbled.

Susan and Max (who was on winter break from her psychology graduate program at UC Irvine) had invited the two of you over for Christmas Eve dinner, requesting that you wear "your merriest Christmas sweaters!" Though Susan had divorced Neil years ago, she still held a soft spot for Billy, and she'd quickly taken a liking to you as well.

Billy was reluctant to go, not because he hated Susan and Max or anything (honestly, one of the only good things Neil ended up doing was introducing the two of them into Billy's life) but because of the whole...Christmas of it all. But you'd really wanted to go, and Billy found it really difficult to say no to you.

Yeah, he was totally whipped.

You beamed up at Billy, looking adorable in your maroon sweater covered in white snowflakes. "It's gonna be fun, I promise! And we don't have to stay super long if you're not feeling it. We can just pop in, give Susan and Max their gifts, and then skedaddle out of there."

Billy had never been more in love with you. "You're definitely getting eaten out when we get back home."

"BILLY!" You yelped, burying your face into the side of your boyfriend's neck in embarrassment. Still, when Billy chuckled, you couldn't help but grin a little. Slowly but surely, your Grinch was becoming less, well...Grinchy.

🎄🎄🎄

Christmas Eve with the Mayfields went well. At first, Billy was hesitant to partake in the festivities, but his exterior melted away and he enjoyed laughing, drinking, and having fun with his former stepmom and stepsister.

He'd even cried at the end of It's a Wonderful Life, fully debunking the boastful claims he'd made that he never cried at movies. (Later, when both of you were alone, he explained that it was his mother's favorite movie, and your heart nearly burst.)

Before you and Billy left for the evening, Susan privately pulled you to the side for a chat. "Thanks for convincing him to come visit," she said, looking at you with kind eyes. "I know Christmas hasn't brought up the best memories for him, but it was so nice to see him happy. And I think you have a great deal to do with that."

Susan's words made a warmth grow in your chest. Billy wasn't the easiest guy to get to know, but you'd tried your best to break down his walls. To see him so happy, and to see that other people noticed the change, made you overcome with emotion.

The words you'd wanted to tell Susan wouldn't come out - thank you for your kind heart, for never giving up on Billy - so you just enveloped her into a hug. Max and Billy, who'd been yapping to each other about hockey, made their way over, curious about the random display of affection.

"Can I have my girlfriend back now?" Billy jokingly asked, smiling fondly at you and Susan.

Susan laughed. "All right, you kids get going now."

"Yeah, please go suck each others' faces off outside of our home," Max quipped. Billy ruffled Max's hair, causing the redhead to playfully scowl at him.

You and Billy said your goodbyes to Susan and Max, promising to visit again soon. When you'd climbed into Billy's truck, you couldn't help but feel a bit smug, happy that things had worked out the way you thought they would.

"What's got you grinning like that, huh?" Billy asked as he backed out of Susan's driveway.

You shot Billy a coy smile. "Oh, nothing. Just basking in the fact that I was right about you coming around on Christmas."

Billy scoffed. "This doesn't mean I love Christmas. I just don't hate it anymore, all right?"

You chuckled softly, content with this small victory. Maybe Billy would never be enraptured with the holiday festivities like you were, and that's okay. But you were happy that he was willing to indulge you anyway, and enjoy himself in the process, even if he wouldn't openly admit it.

🎄🎄🎄

"I think you're forgetting something, babe," Billy informed you as you kicked off your shoes and prepared to go into your shared kitchen for a snack. "Look up."

You scrunched your nose at your boyfriend, confused, before noticing the sprig of mistletoe that hung from a light fixture in the hallway. "Mistletoe? Billy Hargrove, you little minx."

Billy smirked, pulling you into a deep, searing kiss. Hey, maybe some of those goofy Christmas traditions weren't so bad. Especially if he got to partake in them with you.

[spoopydeboop]

Hello, and welcome to…

Pointless Palia Head-Cannons!

This is a segment where my hyper-focused and obsessive brain will shower you all with all of the pointless very important head-cannons I have about the MMO Palia and its many NPCs!

Today’s topic is:

Which Palia NPCs can sing well and which ones simply cannot carry a tune?

Now, in the words of the famous Italian plumber, “Here we go!” (List below the cut!)

NPCs are listed in alphabetical order.

• Ashura - Absolutely yes, but in a very deep, sea-shanty / Gaelic tune way. He’s not the most technically sound, but his voice is very gruff and soothing. Absolutely sang his son lullabies every night.

• Auni - No, I’m sorry. Convinced that he cannot carry a tune AT ALL but thinks he can. Sings loudly with zero inhibition whatsoever. Gotta give him credit there!

• Badruu - We know this man was in a traveling Bard group, so he’s musically inclined for sure. I feel like he would have been killer backup and filler vocals and he can harmonize beautifully.

• Caleri - Doesn’t believe in fun, jovial activities like singing. (Elouisa informs you later that her sister can in fact not carry a tune at all.)

• Chayne - Absolutely. He’s naturally musically inclined, but part of his spiritual training involved learning to lead chants and hymns. Bass level vocals, v soothing.

• Delaila - Not at all. Where do you think Auni gets it? Part of what entranced her about Badruu in the beginning was his musical abilities. She’ll still sing along with a group and put her all into it though!

• Einar - The concept of producing a vocal stimulation to create a pleasing melodic sound is lost to the robot. But if it’s your Oneness, he respects it.

• Elouisa - Cannot sing, but definitely played clarinet in high school and was first chair!

• Eshe - No way. Cruella de Vil type vibes. She definitely was classically trained on the piano, but doesn’t often exercise the skill.

• Hassain - Can absolutely carry a tune and harmonize well! Definitely low baritone or higher bass in range. Can harmonize with higher ranges very well!

• Hekla - Her Jina often sings to herself as she works, but the ability and desire to produce a series of melodies is not within her rune programming.

• Hodari - Not the biggest fan of singing, but has a decent voice that comes off pleasantly gruff and southern. I imagine if Pedro Pascal’s ‘Joel’ from The Last of Us sang a slower, more reserved tune. (My other example was the dad cow from Back at the Barnyard that sings “I Won’t Back Down”… Let me know if that woulda been better or worse.)

• Jel - Definitely took vocal lessons with his sisters. Has a very pleasant and airy singing voice that is very technically sound.

• Jina - Doesn’t really sing much except for to herself. Massive stage fright on this one! Hekla says that her Jina seems happy when she sings, and that’s what matters.

• Kenji - Honestly? 100%, yes. Maybe like a broadway or an operatic voice. Doesn’t sing much but I imagine it would sound really jolly if he was a jollier guy.

• Kenyatta - YES! Doesn’t sing because she thinks it’s ‘lame’ (she gives me massive ‘too cool for school’ vibes) but has a delightful and powerful singing voice (kinda like the wolf Porsha Crystal played by Halsey in Sing 2.)

• Nai’O - Yes absolutely. Got his talent from his dad! He’s very shy when put on the spot though, so he doesn’t sing in front of people often — mostly when he works in the field with his animals by himself.

• Najuma - Not at all! But it’s okay because Najuma has zero desire to, haha. Kid is happy to be tinkering!

• Reth - On god, YES. Man has a beautiful and casual singing voice with a little rasp around the edges. Sings to himself while he cooks or gets really focused on something. I’m thinking “Feelin’ Good” by Michael Bublé, but maybe bit more rough around the edges.

• Sifuu - Not much of a singer, but I know our Muscle Mommy definitely has a few war chants or something up her sleeve! Lady can keep a beat for sure.

• Tamala - Thinks she can, but makes it way too sultry. You heard me. There’s such a thing as too much!

• Tish - Yes! Absolutely. She seems like she would 100% have like a Mandy Moore or Kristen Bell vibe. Very Disney Princess-esque!

• Zeki - Okay, honestly I think yes — but not in a conventional way. Kind of like Ashura; I think he would be great at singing like traditional Grimalkin shanties or folk-songs. Not very practiced, but he’s got spirit!

OKAY FINALLY DONE! I plan to do a lot more of these! Let me know if you have any suggestions!

[dokjafang]

the yan vn community is a bit hectic,

Whats your opinion on the indie visual novels with yandere characters?

People get intense with games to be honest. Though, root cause is pride to be honest. Unfortunate. Hopefully, things cool down sooner rather than later. I don't get involved with networking, so I'm not a direct associate to the yan vn community.

WARNING: My controversial opinions. Things I keep to myself. But, you did ask for my opinion so here. Also, casual and unstructured content.

Well I like playing them, or watching gameplays of it. Usually, though, I wouldn't say a lot of characters are my type. Most of the characters are my friend's type, not mine. So rarely will I play yandere visual novels. Usually on the emotional side or um, just know a lot of them aren't my type!

Also, ANY visual novels... well, I honestly treat it the same way as any other story or book. It's just another story to play through. Sure, it has visuals, but what matters most to me is story and characters. Like, if the MC genuinely irritates me (usually ENFP's, ESFJ's, or ENFJ's protagonists irritate me most), then I will not play the game no matter what. I can tolerate things; but honestly I can't play a game, where I have to constantly deal with an annoying character.

It's also one of the reasons why I didn't get so far playing Love and Deepspace. I heavily dislike the MC there. Too emotional for my tastes, too outspoken, and frankly? I'm no dom, you won't find any dom bone in this tiny body of mine. haha So yeah. But mostly, MC personality irritates me. Things like that. It also goes for yanderes and plots in general.

I play games to have fun, and I don't have any expectations for yandere visual novels. I play for just relaxation; because I know it's once-in-a-blue-moon will I ever find an actual yandere that vibes with me.

Because most of the time, the male yanderes I like are what people consider "abusive" and what most consider not yandere. People say it's plain abuse shiz and all. But for me? Food. Like for me, my favorite "love story" manhwa of all time is this one:

I WILL ALWAYS LOVE THIS STORY. WHO IS THE PREY.

BOTH THE NOVEL AND MANHUA. YES I LOVE IT. Why?

Don't ask. Reminds me of my husband and I hardcore. Like among all stories I've read (that I haven't written), it's this one that resonated most.

So... you can already tell I have unconventional tastes. People hate this man. lol. But I love this story. Hardcore, reminds me of my own love story wahhhh so it's really close to my heart. 🖤🖤🖤

OH WAIT! I REMEMBER. I love this character because reminds me of my husband. People hardcore say he's not yandere, but I consider him one:

YANNNGGGG. I love this man.

Among all yanderes I've seen, this guy was most memorable for me. Yes, choke meee.

A lot of yanderes are on the soft, emo, creepy but wholesome, or what you generally read on most manhwa, for example. But, truly unhinged or unapologetic villain yanderes? Rareeee.

It's why I'm starving hardcore for content. Like actual confident + doesn't need validation from darling + unapologetic + sadistic + intelligent + truly black flag yanderes. That's my type.

Listen. I play games, write, or do anything really because I love my husband. Truly do. So anything that reminds me of him makes me happy.

Anyways.

There's this one story my friend played. People may not like or vibe with it, but it's called "Boyfriend to Death (BTD)". Never played it but my friend chatted it about it with me since she finished the game, and it's my kind of vibe. I don't like the graphics so I wouldn't play it. But the survival horror and genuine aim for your life? Well, that's dope. So, basically stuff like that is my kind of vibe.

Sorry, I do play otome games and visual novels, but usually it's not even yandere. The personalities are never vibing with me :((. It's difficult to even find fanfiction or stories in general with truly confident, unapologetic yanderes. Like truly strong.

My husband is like that, and well... I can't find any wahahahha. Oh well. At least I have food now in the form of writing.

Rambled but yeah. To me, visual novels, whether yandere or not, well, just another video game to me. As long as the game is generally fun to play and doesn't irritate me, then I'll play it. I don't really care nor get involved in community stuff; because I just want to have fun playing. And, I keep to myself, so yeah.

[malepresentingleg]

About the 'queerbaiting' claims, it makes me think about ships like johnlock on BBC Sherlock or destiel in Spn. In both these shows the ship was indeed addressed in canon! People, strangers, would assume they're a couple, make a comment about it, interpret their relationship from the book based on their lives etc.

Other famous queerbaited ships like SuperCorp and SwanQueen (and Byler and even Steddie on ST, but I'll give it grace as it's not done yet), had very romantic queer coded elements but as far as I know it wasn't explicitly addressed in canon the same way.

So we have queerbaiting that is through mostly queer coding, and the former, when it's addresswd in canon, which is blatantly fan service (in addition to the queer coding).

Now with Buddie we have claims of clownery and falling for the same old queerbaiting tricks. So what if the ship was canonly addressed! We shan't be fooled by the fan service tactics!

Is Buddie (aside from the obvious queer codeness), fan service? In the past- yeah!

I can think of two examples from canon for this fan service-y type of mention: the Christmas elf ("you two have an adorable son"), and the fashion influencer live feed comments ("OMG thos two are So CUTE together"). You might even claim Maddie's "this boy crush on Eddie" from season two because that was before she actually knew their relationship, but I won't.

To me those instances had the same fan service-y vibes as a random waiter assuming Johnlock are a couple, and hm maybe it was Wincest actually that had this assumption when getting a hotel room?

But it's meant to be funny and even ridiculous, and with 911 it was much more harmless (done without the homophobic denial by the accused like in the other two).

Now in 8x11 we have something completely different. A character who actually knows them brings up potential romantic feelings between them. Two of them actually! When Buck has to deny it here it's not "oh haha misunderstanding" (or like he did with the elf "👍"). Here he is actually defensive because it is a serious claim/accusation.

This follows such a classic trope of friends-to-lovers that I honestly don't understand how anyone can take Buck's denial seriously.

Jake and Amy from b99, Jess and Nick from NG (so I've heard), David and Patrick from Schitt's Creek, Chloe and Lucifer and many many more. We can find an example in THIS show with Chim and Maddie and Buck confronting them and then Maddie about it. It's a classic for a reason.

This is not real life, it's a fictional show, and it's our sacred duty to NOT take the characters' words at face value! In fact, we must follow the trope and take the words as opposite from the truth.

So while Buddie dabbled in fan service type acts in the past, this is not that. This is part of the actual plot. Not to even mention Buck's canon queerness (unlike in all the queerbaited couples above).

Was Eddie claimed as straight? Sure. But as @eddiegettingshot put so beautifully, Buck is also a self proclaimed "ally", but that doesn't erase his queerness.

In conclusion - I retired my clown makeup since this is completely different from queer baiting so if i hear it compared onw more tim-

[barrenclan]

you compared deepdark (regretably) to joker but i also get ra's al ghul vibes from him honestly?

Okay, Deep is not one-to-one the Joker but like... look at this bitch.

He's Jonker.

But really, he's mostly like if Joker cleaned up his act and took some shit seriously for once. I think he has Ra's's (how do you possessive-form that?) menace and control though, and focus on legacy. Ra's is really just too cold and not nearly chaotic enough for Deepdark. I suppose his personality shows a combination of both of them.

Haha, hmm... Ranger, of course.